Team dynamics are complex and are often plagued with dysfunction and politics. To lead a team to success, it is important to understand the root causes of the dysfunction. Counter to conventional wisdom, these causes are identifiable and the dysfunction curable. Patrick Lencioni has identified the 5 key types of dysfunction that may exist within a team:
- Absence of trust: the fear of being vulnerable with team members prevents trust being built within the team.
- Fear of conflict: the desire to preserve artificial harmony stifles productive and ideological conflict.
- Lack of commitment: the lack of clarity or buy-in prevents team members from making decisions they will stick to.
- Avoidance of accountability: the need to avoid interpersonal discomfort prevents team members from holding one another accountable.
- Inattention to results: the pursuit of individual goals and personal status erodes the focus on collective success.
It is difficult to overcome these types of dysfunction but, with a minimum of courage and discipline, it is still entirely possible. In this proven program, you will discover how you can make a team more cohesive and effective. You will acquire the tools and mindset to tap into one another’s skills and experience, avoid wasting time on the wrong issues, develop a feed¬back culture, optimize your meetings, and align and engage everybody around common objectives and values.
Discover the program intro:
Discover the 34 videocasts:
THE 5 TYPES OF DYSFUNCTION
The 5 dysfunctions of a team
Patrick Lencioni details the 5 dysfunctions of a team and explains how resolving them is key to building a team that is more cohesive.
- Absence of trust: The dangers of not acknowledging your vulnerability
Some people may be reluctant to show their vulnerability, for example by refusing to admit their mistakes or limitations in front of their colleagues. This is an attitude that, according to Patrick Lencioni, can be toxic for them and for their team as it stands in the way of trust. Let’s try to understand the mechanism at play through an interesting story.
- Fear of conflict: Understanding the benefits of conflict
A lot of people fear conflict because it’s uncomfortable. They therefore don’t engage in any conflict even though it could be beneficial for the health of the team. Patrick Lencioni goes a step further by explaining how silencing conflict can be dangerous.
- Lack of commitment: Achieving commitment
In this videocast, Patrick Lencioni shows how clarity and buy-in are key to obtaining your team members’ commitment.
- Avoidance of accountability: Why we should hold one another accountable
Patrick Lencioni reveals that one of the major dysfunctions of a team is that colleagues are reluctant to hold one another accountable. He explains why it’s healthy when colleagues can do this and why the leader should set the example.
- Inattention to results: Focusing on the correct results
A common problem in companies today is that people are paying attention to the wrong results. They tend to focus on the results of their own sub-group instead of those of the whole organization. Patrick Lencioni explains why it is vital to change this mindset.
BUILDING TRUST
The importance of showing vulnerability
Patrick Lencioni tells the story of a manager whose behavior destroyed his organization. The story illustrates the importance of showing vulnerability if you want to promote a culture of trust within the organization and ensure its success.
Building vulnerability-based trust
Patrick Lencioni explains that one of the key factors that lead a team to success is the trust that is created when every team member is honest about their weaknesses and failures. Discover the virtues of creating a culture where people are open about their vulnerability.Is there a limit to showing your vulnerability to your colleagues?
Patrick Lencioni strongly believes that a team works better when its members are honest about their vulnera- bilities. But you may wonder if there should be a limit to this and if it can go too far. Here is Patrick Lencioni’s answer.
MASTERING CONFLICT
The dangers of avoiding conflict
For Patrick Lencioni, there is no doubt that conflict within a team can be healthy. In this videocast, he lists the major dangers of not having enough conflict in a team, and explains why this can lead to a lack of engagement among the participants.
Conflicts can be healthy
Patrick Lencioni reveals that we tend to avoid engaging in conflicts at work in order to spare our colleagues’ feelings, but this often ends up in a worse situation than the one we are trying to avoid. Discover why conflicts can actually be healthy.
Conflict: don’t be afraid to step over the line
Conflicts can sometimes have a destructive effect on a team. Is that a reason to avoid them altogether or to soften your approach? Patrick Lencioni explains why you should not be afraid to step over the line.
How to deal with people from conflict-averse cultures
Not everyone is comfortable with conflict, especially if they come from a risk-averse culture. Nevertheless, dealing well with conflict is key to the good performance of a team. Patrick Lencioni gives some tips on how to encourage these people to engage in conflict despite their reluctance.
Establishing conflict norms for your team
Patrick Lencioni is convinced that conflict is healthy for a team. Nevertheless, not everybody sees things the same way, as each of us is influenced by our own history and culture. Here are Patrick Lencioni’s recommenda- tions on how we can reconcile the different approaches to conflict.
Resolving conflicts
Patrick Lencioni shares a checklist of items for resolving a conflict.
Try to get to know better the people you have difficulties with
We all experience difficulties with some of our colleagues and tend to make hasty judgments on why we have problems with them. Patrick Lencioni explains why it’s important to make the effort and spend time trying to understand their personalities if you want to interact better with them.
ACHIEVING COMMITMENT DURING MEETINGS
Combating the boring meeting
We have all experienced boring meetings. How can we ensure we are not responsible for holding a boring meeting ourselves? Discover with Patrick Lencioni why you need to hook your audience at the very beginning of each meeting.
Hold specialized meetings to get things done
Meetings can be confusing because all too often too many subjects are brought to the table. Patrick Lencioni suggests a method to divide meetings into different types in order to create more clarity for the attendees and therefore get more things done.
How to ensure commitment at the end of meetings
The way you end your team meetings is crucial if you want to avoid problems later and make sure that the de- cisions made are properly implemented. Patrick Lencioni shares his tips on how you can ensure that everyone leaves the meeting fully aware of what has been agreed and ready to communicate it.
Cascading the results of a meeting
After a meeting, people often think they are on the same page when this is not necessarily the case. This can cause problems when they cascade what they think they have agreed on. Patrick Lencioni shares some tips on how to end each meeting to avoid this kind of problem.
EMBRACING PEER-TO-PEER ACCOUNTABILITY AND A FEEDBACK CULTURE
Challenging your peers from a place of vulnerability
Just because you are dealing with people who have more expertise and knowledge than you doesn’t mean that you can’t challenge them or give them some input into how they do their work. Not doing so would deprive them of fresh ideas and a new perspective that they might be unaware of. Discover with Patrick Lencioni the best way to suggest improvements.
When should you criticize your colleagues in public?
Patrick Lencioni qualifies the old adage “Praise in public, criticize in private.” He explains in which circumstances criticizing in public has its benefits.
Performance vs behavioral accountability
Patrick Lencioni explains the differences between what he calls performance accountability and behavioral ac- countability. Discover why leaders should have the courage to be honest with their colleagues about behavior that can lead to performance problems.
Recognition vs compensation
Companies often focus their incentivizing efforts on compensation and not enough on recognition. Patrick Len- cioni explains why this is a big mistake to make.
FOCUSING ON COLLECTIVE RESULTS
Putting collective goals before ego
Through a powerful basketball story, Pat Lencioni reveals that it’s important to recognize when people put their ego before the interests of the team and why this kind of behavior should be prevented.
Which team should be your number one team?
With virtual and matrix organizations, people are part of several teams and often struggle to know which one to prioritize. Should it be the team they manage, for example, or the leadership team they belong to? Patrick Lencioni shares his wise advice on this tricky question.
EMBODYING THE COMPANY’S VALUES AND CULTURE
Identifying the values of your organization
The values of a company often explain its success. But how do you identify them? Patrick Lencioni shares some tips to help you decide which values your own organization embodies.
How defining core values contributes to diversity
If you worry that defining your core values will lead you to recruit in a homogeneous way, think again. Patrick Lencioni explains why defining your core values actually facilitates diversity and not the opposite.
The importance of hiring for fit
It’s very easy when you recruit someone to focus on the intelligence and the technical and tactical skills of the candidates and to neglect the rest. Patrick Lencioni reveals why it is crucial to also check if the candidate is a good fit for the core values and culture of the company.
What should onboarding focus on?
Orientation and onboarding often focus on delivering technical information, but by doing so they are missing the point. Patrick Lencioni explains why the most important thing is to share the values and history of the com- pany.
When and how to let someone go
Deciding to fire someone is one of the most difficult decisions a manager will ever have to make. That’s why you need to think long and hard before you come to this decision. Find out with Patrick Lencioni when and how you should let someone go.
